Monarchic AI Protocol

This repository defines the shared, versioned protocol for Monarchic AI. It is the compatibility layer between the orchestrator, runner, and agent roles, so the schemas are minimal and stable while allowing forward-compatible extensions.

Overview

• Provide versioned JSON Schemas for language-agnostic validation.
• Provide Rust, TypeScript, and Protobuf bindings that mirror the schemas.
• Keep the protocol small and explicit for v1 interoperability.

Usage

Quickstart

Install the published package for your language, then use the generated bindings.

Install

• Rust (crates.io): cargo add monarchic-agent-protocol
• TypeScript (npm): npm install @monarchic-ai/monarchic-agent-protocol
• Python (PyPI): pip install monarchic-agent-protocol
• Ruby (RubyGems): gem install monarchic-agent-protocol
• Go (Go modules): go get github.com/monarchic-ai/monarchic-agent-protocol/src/go@vX.Y.Z
• Java/Kotlin (JitPack): implementation("com.github.monarchic-ai:monarchic-agent-protocol:vX.Y.Z")
• .NET (NuGet): dotnet add package Monarchic.AgentProtocol
• PHP (Packagist): composer require monarchic-ai/monarchic-agent-protocol

Examples

• Rust: examples/rust/task.rs
• TypeScript: examples/ts/task.ts
• Protobuf C++: examples/proto/cpp/task.cpp
• Protobuf Java: examples/proto/java/TaskExample.java
• Protobuf Kotlin: examples/proto/kotlin/TaskExample.kt
• Protobuf C#: examples/proto/csharp/TaskExample.cs
• Protobuf Python: examples/proto/python/task.py
• Protobuf Ruby: examples/proto/ruby/task.rb
• Protobuf PHP: examples/proto/php/task.php
• Protobuf Dart: examples/proto/dart/task.dart
• Protobuf Rust: examples/proto/rust/task.rs

Versioning

• Protocol versions live under schemas/v1/.
• Each v1 object requires version: "v1".
• New versions must be added under a new directory (e.g. schemas/v2/) without changing existing v1 files.

Schema summary

JSON Schema files are generated from the protobuf definitions. Do not edit them by hand.

Schema files live under schemas/v1/:

• schemas/v1/task.json
• schemas/v1/artifact.json
• schemas/v1/event.json
• schemas/v1/gate_result.json
• schemas/v1/run_context.json
• schemas/v1/delivery_contract.json
• schemas/v1/agent_role.json
• schemas/v1/dataset_ref.json
• schemas/v1/experiment_spec.json
• schemas/v1/objective_spec.json
• schemas/v1/eval_result.json
• schemas/v1/provenance.json
• schemas/v1/schema.json (index)
• schemas/v1/monarchic_agent_protocol.proto

All schemas allow additional properties for forward compatibility.

Schema index coverage

schemas/v1/schema.json is the canonical top-level JSON schema index. Its oneOf entries currently cover:

• schemas/v1/task.json
• schemas/v1/artifact.json
• schemas/v1/event.json
• schemas/v1/gate_result.json
• schemas/v1/run_context.json
• schemas/v1/dataset_ref.json
• schemas/v1/experiment_spec.json
• schemas/v1/objective_spec.json
• schemas/v1/eval_result.json
• schemas/v1/provenance.json

schemas/v1/agent_role.json is a shared schema used by task.json.

AgentRole

Enum values:

• product_owner
• project_manager
• dev
• qa
• reviewer
• security
• ops

Example:

{
  "role": "reviewer"
}

Task

Represents work assigned to an agent.

Required fields:

• version: "v1"
• task_id: stable identifier
• role: AgentRole
• goal: human-readable objective

Optional fields:

• inputs: free-form object
• constraints: free-form object
• gates_required: list of gate names to run (ex: ["qa", "security"])
• run_context: RunContext
• delivery_contract: typed acceptance and risk contract for autonomous delivery loops
• objective_spec: objective scoring contract for deterministic outcome evaluation
• experiment_spec: typed experiment design contract for deterministic in silico runs

Example:

{
  "version": "v1",
  "task_id": "task-123",
  "role": "dev",
  "goal": "Implement protocol types",
  "inputs": {
    "issue": "https://example.com/issues/42"
  },
  "constraints": {
    "no_network": true
  },
  "gates_required": ["qa", "security"],
  "run_context": {
    "version": "v1",
    "repo": "monarchic-agent-protocol",
    "worktree": "/worktrees/task-123",
    "image": "ghcr.io/monarchic/runner:stable",
    "runner": "vm-runner-01",
    "labels": ["linux", "rust"]
  }
}

DeliveryContract

Typed acceptance contract for autonomous delivery execution.

Required fields:

• objective: plain-language objective statement
• definition_of_done: ordered completion checklist
• required_checks: required gate/check names for merge readiness
• risk_tier: low | medium | high | critical

Optional fields include cycle/turn budgets (max_cycle_minutes, max_agent_turns) and PR/review/rollback strategy hints.

RunContext

Execution hints for a runner.

Required fields:

• version: "v1"
• repo: repository identifier or URL
• worktree: worktree path or identifier
• image: VM/container image reference
• runner: runner identifier

Optional fields:

• labels: list of labels or tags

Example:

{
  "version": "v1",
  "repo": "monarchic-agent-protocol",
  "worktree": "/worktrees/task-123",
  "image": "ghcr.io/monarchic/runner:stable",
  "runner": "vm-runner-01",
  "labels": ["linux", "rust"]
}

Artifact

Outputs produced by an agent or runner.

Required fields:

• version: "v1"
• artifact_id: stable identifier
• type: artifact type (ex: patch, log, report)
• summary: short description
• path: path or locator for the artifact
• task_id: task identifier that produced it
• provenance: typed provenance hashes and runtime metadata
• dataset_refs: datasets used while producing the artifact
• eval_results: typed metric outputs with optional uncertainty bounds
• experiment_spec: optional copy of experiment contract used for this output

Example:

{
  "version": "v1",
  "artifact_id": "artifact-987",
  "type": "patch",
  "summary": "Adds v1 protocol schemas",
  "path": "artifacts/task-123/patch.diff",
  "task_id": "task-123"
}

Event

Lifecycle state updates.

Required fields:

• version: "v1"
• event_type: event category
• timestamp: ISO 8601 timestamp
• task_id: task identifier
• status: state label

Optional fields:

• message: human-readable details
• provenance: typed runtime/source hashes for event attribution
• eval_results: optional metric snapshot payloads

Example:

{
  "version": "v1",
  "event_type": "task_started",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-14T15:04:05Z",
  "task_id": "task-123",
  "status": "running",
  "message": "Runner started VM"
}

GateResult

Outcome of QA, review, security, or other gates.

Required fields:

• version: "v1"
• gate: gate name
• status: pass/fail or other gate-specific status

Optional fields:

• reason: short explanation
• evidence: free-form object with supporting data

Example:

{
  "version": "v1",
  "gate": "security",
  "status": "pass",
  "reason": "No high or critical findings",
  "evidence": {
    "scanner": "trivy",
    "report_path": "artifacts/task-123/security.json"
  }
}

DatasetRef

Reference to a dataset used by an experiment or output artifact.

Required fields:

• dataset_id
• sha256
• format

Optional fields include uri, split, size_bytes, and description.

ExperimentSpec

Typed contract for model design and acceptance checks.

Required fields:

• experiment_id
• objective
• dataset_refs: list of DatasetRef
• acceptance: metric threshold policy

Optional fields include hypothesis, model_family, seeds, and free-form constraints.

ObjectiveSpec

Typed objective scoring contract for progress/outcome checks.

Required fields:

• metric_key
• direction: maximize, minimize, or target

Optional fields include target, min_delta, tolerance, report_file, report_task_id, weight, and description.

EvalResult

Typed evaluation output row.

Required fields:

• metric
• value
• passed

Optional fields include lower_ci, upper_ci, variance, seed, and notes.

Provenance

Typed provenance contract for reproducibility and traceability.

Required fields:

• prompt_sha256
• code_sha256
• runtime
• runner
• orchestrator
• created_at

Optional fields include dataset hashes/references and command/task/pipeline hashes.

Language bindings

Rust

The crate lives at the repo root with sources under src/rust/lib.rs.

use monarchic_agent_protocol::{AgentRole, Task, PROTOCOL_VERSION};

let task = Task {
    version: PROTOCOL_VERSION.to_string(),
    task_id: "task-123".to_string(),
    role: AgentRole::Dev as i32,
    goal: "Implement protocol".to_string(),
    inputs: None,
    constraints: None,
    gates_required: Vec::new(),
    run_context: None,
    extensions: Default::default(),
};

TypeScript

TypeScript bindings are in src/ts/index.ts.

import { Task } from "./src/ts/index";

const task: Task = {
  version: "v1",
  task_id: "task-123",
  role: "dev",
  goal: "Implement protocol",
};

Go

Go module sources live under src/go with module path:

github.com/monarchic-ai/monarchic-agent-protocol/src/go

Protobuf

The v1 protobuf schema lives at schemas/v1/monarchic_agent_protocol.proto. It mirrors the JSON schema and uses google.protobuf.Struct for free-form objects (inputs, constraints, evidence, extensions). Additional JSON properties should be stored in the extensions field on each message.

Language packages are published per registry. Use the registry package for your language instead of generating local outputs.

Python (PyPI)

Install the published package and import the generated protobuf bindings:

from monarchic_agent_protocol import monarchic_agent_protocol_pb2 as map_pb2

Ruby

Ruby bindings live under src/ruby.

Java/Kotlin

Java/Kotlin sources live under src/java.

C#

C# sources live under src/csharp.

PHP

PHP sources live under src/php.

Dart

Dart sources live under src/dart.

Contributing

Tooling

• nix develop provides Rust, Node, jq, Python jsonschema, and protoc.
• nix flake check validates JSON schemas, protobuf codegen, and package imports (PyPI + Rust + npm + Go).
• JSON Schema test: scripts/test-json-schema.sh.
• Pre-commit schema JSON parse check: scripts/pre-commit-schema-json-parse.sh.
• Pre-commit schema parse smoke test: scripts/test-pre-commit-schema-json-parse.sh.
• Schema edit changelog: schemas/SCHEMA_CHANGELOG.md.
• Schema changelog format test: scripts/test-schema-changelog-format.sh.
• README schema index coverage test: scripts/test-readme-schema-index-coverage.sh.
• Protobuf codegen test (all languages): scripts/test-proto.sh.
• Protobuf availability smoke test: scripts/test-proto-availability-smoke.sh.
• Protobuf codegen (write to src/<lang>): scripts/generate-proto.sh.
• Protobuf codegen (write to src/<lang> and regenerate JSON schemas): scripts/generate-proto.sh.
• JSON Schema regeneration only: scripts/generate-json-schema.sh.
• JSON Schema generation requires protoc-gen-jsonschema (install with go install github.com/chrusty/protoc-gen-jsonschema/cmd/protoc-gen-jsonschema@latest).

Use the Nix apps (preferred) or the scripts directly:

• nix run .#generate-proto (scripts/generate-proto.sh): regenerate protobuf outputs into src/<lang>.
• nix run .#generate-json-schema (scripts/generate-json-schema.sh): regenerate JSON Schemas from the protobuf source.
• nix run .#update-local-hashes (scripts/update-local-hashes.sh): refresh hashes for local build inputs.
• nix run .#update-version -- <version> (scripts/update-version.sh): bump version across manifests and tags (expects vX.Y.Z input).
• nix run .#update-registry-hashes (scripts/update-registry-hashes.sh): refresh hashes for published registries (npm, crates, PyPI, RubyGems, NuGet, JitPack, GitHub source).

For every schema change, generate protobuf outputs and update local hashes.

For every release, tag the commit, update versions, push, and update registry hashes after pushing.

Schema validation workflow

1. Run full schema lint and semantic checks: bash scripts/lint-schemas.sh.
2. Run direct schema fixture checks: bash scripts/test-json-schema.sh.
3. Validate staged schema JSON before commit: bash scripts/pre-commit-schema-json-parse.sh.
4. Verify pre-commit checker behavior is deterministic: bash scripts/test-pre-commit-schema-json-parse.sh.
5. Verify schema changelog entry format: bash scripts/test-schema-changelog-format.sh.
6. Verify README schema index coverage stays aligned: bash scripts/test-readme-schema-index-coverage.sh.

Nix packages

• packages.default: Rust crate for protocol types
• packages.rs-lib: Rust crate for protocol types (local)
• packages.rs-registry-lib: Rust crate from crates.io (registry)
• packages.py-lib: installable Python package (local)
• packages.py-registry-lib: PyPI package (registry)
• packages.ts-lib: TypeScript types package (local)
• packages.ts-registry-lib: npm registry package (types-only)
• packages.go-lib: Go module (local)
• packages.go-registry-lib: Go module from GitHub (registry)
• packages.rb-lib: Ruby gem (local)
• packages.rb-registry-lib: Ruby gem from RubyGems (registry)
• packages.java-lib: Java/Kotlin jar (local)
• packages.java-registry-lib: Java/Kotlin jar from JitPack (registry)
• packages.dart-lib: Dart package (local)
• packages.dart-registry-lib: Dart package from pub.dev (registry)
• packages.csharp-lib: C# package sources (local)
• packages.csharp-registry-lib: C# package from NuGet (registry)
• packages.php-lib: PHP package sources (local)
• packages.php-registry-lib: PHP package from Packagist (registry)

CI and releases

• .github/workflows/ci.yml validates JSON schemas, protobuf codegen, and runs cargo test.
• .github/workflows/release.yml publishes language packages.
  • Python publishing is implemented for PyPI; other language registry steps are scaffolded.

License

LGPL-3.0-only